


Blood Ties

by Kerry_0506



Category: Big Nothing (2006), Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011)
Genre: Abduction, Crossover, Gen, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-06-17
Updated: 2012-07-17
Packaged: 2017-11-07 22:56:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 13
Words: 19,893
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/436367
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kerry_0506/pseuds/Kerry_0506
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>You can't choose your family, but you can choose your friends. Benji knows this first hand and when he finds himself in a spot of bother thanks to his family, it's his friends who he can count on. He hopes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Ok, so this is my new little project. It's another crossover, this time with a film called Big Nothing. If you haven't seen it, I recommend it as it's a good laugh. In it, the character of Gus (who is included in this story) was played by Simon Pegg.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

The alleyway was dark, misty and quiet. Not a sound could be heard as night continued its watch over it, like a guard in a prison. The breeze drifted through the narrow pathway, between the brick walls which towered either side, running right the way along. If one listened quietly, they might be able to hear the rats breathing due to the eerie silence that held the alley captive. That was until three men entered it; well, two men entered, the third was thrown.

Gus felt his back hit the wall and before he knew it, the second man was on him, pressing a strong forearm into his throat making it hard to breathe. As this happened, the man's other arm pulled back and swiftly forced a fist into his stomach. The air rushed from his lungs, which only caused his already ragged gasps to worsen.

"Whoa, hey, hey, now take it easy, big guy." Gus reasoned with his attacker. "Let's not do any permanent damage, ok?" He glanced between the man restraining him and the third man standing behind, who was straightening out the lapels of his sharp, expensive suit. "Can't we just settle this in a nice, diplomatic way? Like three grown men should?"

"Ah, but you see Gus, we're not all grown men are we? You are filth and you are not getting out of this alive unless I get my money." The man's icy blue-grey eyes glistened in the dull moonlight and his teeth stood out as he gave Gus a sly grin. Gus took an audible gulp at these words and tried his best to make eye contact with him, attempting to force down the nerves that threatened to crumble his tough act. "Now you have until Monday to get me my money or else things are going to get a bit ugly for you, my friend."

"Monday? But it's Saturday now!" Gus exclaimed, suddenly feeling a wave of concern take over him.

"Uh, actually no it's not." The man in the suit looked at his watch and smirked. "It's Sunday." He then looked up at Gus again and winked. "So you better move fast, now." With that, the third man removed his arm from Gus' throat, allowing him to gasp for some air, only to deliver a forceful punch to his jaw. The power behind the blow sent Gus tumbling to the ground and as he spat the blood from his split lip onto the damp concrete below him, he heard the man's voice one last time.

"See you soon, Gus."

Gus grimaced at the moments that had just passed. He knew he was in deep shit this time. Sure, he had got into trouble before, but he had always managed to come out of it the other side. This time, however, he really felt like his luck had run out. There was no way he could come up with that amount of money within the next twenty four hours. Sitting up and resting his back against the brick wall behind him, he sighed. He was screwed. Totally, categorically, spectacularly screwed.

Unless…

There was one person he knew that he could always count on. One person who never let him down, no matter how bad the circumstances were. Of course he would help him out again, that's what family does right? Pulling his phone from his pocket, he found the right number and tapped in his message. He could rest easy now.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

"Benji?" Ethan slowly wandered over to where their resident computer genius sat, perched against the wall with his eyes closed. Once he reached the younger agent, he lowered himself onto the ground next to him and rested his head against the wall. "You ok?"

"Hmm?" Benji opened his eyes and blinked a few times before looking at Ethan. "Sorry, what did you say?"

"I said are you alright?" Ethan repeated. "You're off in your own little world there."

"Oh, it's alright, I'm just a bit tired, that's all." Benji smiled and moved to stand up. He threw on one of his famous, infectious smiles and made his way across the room to where Brandt and Jane sat. But despite the smile, Ethan knew that something was wrong.

Half an hour later, while the team sat around talking, there was a buzzing as Benji's phone began to vibrate on the table. The tech looked down and watched it skitter across the wooden surface as he stared at the name on the screen. Ignoring the call, he merely shoved his phone in his pocket, receiving an inquisitive glance from Ethan. Only five minutes after that, a text message came through and Benji gritted his teeth as he read it. As he shoved the phone back into his pocket, he felt Ethan's hand on his arm and when he turned, he saw the kind look in his eyes, knowing that the leader wanted to know what was bugging him.

"Can I talk to you for a second, Ethan?" he asked, knowing that Ethan was the only one who would understand.

"Sure." He motioned for them to go out of the room and once the door was shut, Benji pulled out his phone. "What is it?"

"Gus got in contact last night." Benji spoke in a monotonous voice as he showed Ethan the text he had received just after midnight. "He wants me to meet him this afternoon."

Ethan sighed. "Benji, you know what this means, don't you? You know why he wants to see you."

Benji gave a light scoff. "Do I ever? It's always the same with him."

"So are you gonna go?" Ethan asked, softly. Benji looked up from where his gaze had dropped to the ground and shrugged.

"I don't know. I'm sick of bailing him out."

"But, Benji, he's still your cousin." Ethan reasoned. "Albeit, not the best cousin in the world, but the point still stands."

"I know." Benji breathed, rubbing his hands over his eyes.

"You never know, maybe he might want to just see his awesome cousin." Ethan grinned and was relieved to see Benji laugh slightly.

"Yeah, maybe when pigs fly."

"Hey, any day now, I think." Ethan raised his eyebrows knowingly. "Go, Benji. Hear him out. And if he is calling because of that reason, then you will get greater satisfaction out of telling him no." Benji nodded at the logic and sighed again.

"I guess you're right. Fine." He sent a quick text back to Gus before pocketing his phone and smiling at Ethan. He really did not want to see Gus.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o


	2. Chapter 2

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Benji decided to walk to the café he was meeting Gus at; he figured he could do with the walk to clear his head. Stress was an issue for everyone Gus knew and he did not fancy that clouding his judgement on any upcoming missions. Stopping on the corner of the street, he pulled off his sunglasses to clean them, glancing around as he did. It was an inherent habit of the job, always watching your back, even when not on a mission. Once he had wiped the lenses clean with the hem of his t-shirt, he continued to walk around the corner and along the pavement until he reached his destination. He saw Gus immediately with his baggy jeans and red t-shirt on; he certainly stood out in the crowd. He could see that his cousin was tapping his knuckles on the table anxiously. His assumption had been correct; Gus was definitely in some sort of trouble. Clenching his teeth together and sighing, he slowly made his way into the café. 

“Hey, cuz!” Gus stood up as soon as he spotted Benji and threw his arms around him in a bear hug. Benji tried to show some affection back, however what little he tried to give was squashed under the other man’s grip. 

“You wanted to see me?” Benji sat down, trying to not show that he was clearly pissed off already. 

“Yeah, but how’ve you been, anyway? What’s my baby cousin been up to?” Gus grinned and received a glare from Benji in return.

“First off, please stop calling me that. And secondly, stop stalling. How much trouble are you in this time?” Benji saw the way Gus visibly sank into his seat at the words. Clearly he was hoping to not have been so obvious. 

“Uh…” Gus tried to make up some excuse, but wasn’t fast enough. “Ok, look, I’m just in a bit of trouble with some men and I owe them a little bit of money.” 

Benji rolled his eyes. _Geez, didn’t see that one coming._ He thought. “How much money?”

“Well, it may or may not be a little bit more or less tha-”

“How much, Gus?” Benji put on his best authoritative tone and stared lasers into Gus’ skull. The older man sighed. 

“$200,000.” 

“What?!” Benji spoke a little louder than he had intended to, glancing around at the other patrons who were staring in his direction. “How the hell did you get in that much debt?” Benji paused for a moment before adding “Actually, don’t answer that.” 

“Yeah, well, I only have until tomorrow to get him the money and I was wondering if-”

“No.” Benji interrupted. “No, absolutely not.” 

“But Benj, come on man, we’re family.” Gus pleaded. “Doesn’t that mean we look out for each other?” 

“Yeah, look out for each other, not bail each other out every single time they get themselves into trouble.” Benji tried to speak quietly, despite wanting to yell at Gus. “Look, Gus. I’m sorry, but I’m at the end. You can’t keep begging me like this whenever you get into one of these messes.” 

“But you’ve helped me before.” Gus used his best innocent voice, which usually worked, but Benji wasn’t going to be swayed this time.

“I know, Gus. But those payments were a lot less. This is too much. $200,000? That’s insane. I can’t help you.” As he spoke, Benji rose to his feet and made his way across to the door. Gus clenched his fists and took a deep breath before standing to follow. Throwing some cash on the table, he shot out of the door and jogged to walk by Benji’s side. 

“Benj, please. You help me out with this and I’ll never ask you again. I know you’ve got the money.” Benji stopped in his tracks and Gus’ heart leapt with hope, however when his younger cousin shook his head, his shoulders slouched down in defeat.

“You just don’t get it, do you Gus?” Benji folded his arms to emphasise his point. “I have money because I have a job. I work damn hard for my money and I don’t do that just so you can take it to pay off your lousy debts to shady people.” 

“What are you saying?” 

“Get a job, Gus. Go find work. Make money the way the rest of us do and you won’t find yourself in these messes.” Gus paused for a second as if contemplating the suggestion.

“Benj, please. One last time?”

“Gus, the answer is no. Nothing is going to change that.” Benji tried to show some sympathy, however his exasperation was the only feeling that was evident. “I’m sorry. Good luck.” 

With that, Benji turned his back on his cousin and walked off. He wasn’t sure who Gus was in debt to, or how these people would accept failure, but he was over being the go-to guy for money. Sighing, he turned the corner and, once he was out of Gus’ line of sight, he stopped and leaned against the wall. He did care about Gus and deep down, he really didn’t like seeing him in trouble, but too many times had his older cousin walked all over him. Rather than walking back to his friends immediately, he decided to take the time to get some fresh air. He needed the ‘alone-time’ after his and Gus’ meeting. 

Gus stood, rubbing his hands over his face as he watched Benji disappear from view. He knew it was a long shot asking that much of his cousin, but he was desperate. Benji was a good man who always helped out people he cared about. But he wondered if this really had been the final straw. 

_Damnit._ Part of him wanted to run and apologise to Benji, but he decided that it probably wasn’t the best idea. Shoving his hands in his pockets, he turned and began to walk in the opposite direction. As he walked, he didn’t notice the car across the street; something that would turn out to be a fatal mistake. 

Inside the car, two men sat watching Gus and the blonde man having what seemed to be quite a heated discussion. As the blonde man walked off, they noticed something about him that caused a smile to appear on one of their faces. That man looked an awful lot like Gus. Maybe, just maybe…

He pulled out his mobile phone and dialled the number for his boss, wanting to relay this information to him as soon as possible. 

“Hello?” 

“Mr McTavish.” 

“Ah, Phil. I’m hoping you bring good news regarding the Gus situation.”

“I think I do, sir.” The man smirked at his partner in the driver’s seat. “I believe I may have found a way of ensuring that Mr Dickenson pays up.” 

“I’m listening.” 

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o


	3. Chapter 3

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Benji opened the door and Ethan immediately beckoned him over; clearly he was eager to hear of the meeting's outcome. He pulled the team leader to the side so that Brandt and Jane wouldn't be able to hear.

"How did it go?" Ethan asked.

"Uh, not too well." Benji bit his lip slightly.

"What happened?"

"I'll give you three guesses, but you're only gonna need one." Benji raised his eyebrows at his friend and the older man nodded.

"How much was he after this time?"

"A lot. But that doesn't matter, I told him that I won't be helping him anymore and I left. Simple as that." The tech gave a shrug as Ethan sighed.

"Look, why don't you go home and get some rest. We're fine here so go get some sleep and we'll see you tomorrow." Ethan patted Benji on the shoulder and moved to walk away.

"Are you sure?" the Brit turned to look at his friend, who motioned towards the door, before nodding and collecting his things. Saying a quick goodbye to Brandt and Jane, he headed out of the door and made his way back to his apartment, stopping for take out on the way. Reaching his apartment block, he thought on what Gus had said to him as he ascended the stairs to his room.

_Stupid lift out again._

Reaching his door, he fumbled with his items before finally finding his key and unlocking the door. As he stumbled inside, he grasped blindly for the light switch and once it was on, made his way towards the kitchen. Before he could dump his things on the counter, however, he felt two strong arms wrap around him from behind. He immediately dropped his bags onto the floor and began to struggle, lifting a hand to grab at his attacker's thumb. Pushing down the top section of the appendage, he heard the man let out a yell and quickly threw his head back to headbutt him. When the grip slackened slightly, he managed to wriggle free, but soon found there to be a second man in the room. He ducked quickly to dodge a vicious punch from the second assailant and then kicked out at the other man's legs, causing him to stumble. Turning on the spot, the first man had recovered and ran at him, pushing him backwards into the wall behind him. His back hit the plaster with a horrific thud and a photo frame fell to the floor, smashing instantly. A fist hit his stomach two consecutive times, causing him to gasp for air but he used the man's current bent-over position to his advantage, bringing up his knee to connect with his attacker's groin.

Giving a hard shove, he watched the man fall to the floor and spotted the other moving again. Running across the living room at him, Benji collided with him and both men went sprawling to the ground. The tech managed to get the upper hand briefly, however the first man stood and grabbed his right wrist, pulling so that his arm was straight. Almost immediately afterwards, leaving Benji no time to register what was happening, the second man kicked out at his elbow, causing the bone to snap with a horrifying crack. He cried out in pain and immediately tried to struggle again, climbing to his feet as his right arm hung limp at his side; he knew that he was at a definite disadvantage now.

Benji could see both men slowly closing in on him. He knew he had to do something or he would be in major trouble. He didn't know what they wanted or why they were here but he didn't plan on sticking around to find out. Running in between them, he ducked under their grasps and made a run for his front door, gripping his broken arm the whole time. As he twisted the handle, he pulled on the door only to find himself sandwiched between it and one of the men. The door slammed as impact was made and he then found himself pulled backwards from the exit. He felt the man pushing him into the centre of the room and once he realised their next plan of action, it was too late. He found himself flying through the air straight at the cabinet against the wall. He hit it with unimaginable force, the glass doors shattering against his cheek, and his unconscious form fell to the ground as the remains collapsed down on top of him.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

_"This is the voicemail of Benjamin Dunn. I'm unable to take your call right now so ple-"_

Brandt hung up the phone and shoved it back into the pocket of his jeans, looking up just in time to see Ethan walk in the room. Standing up from the table, he crossed the room in three strides and stopped in front of his teammate.

"Hey, Brandt, what's up?" Ethan spoke with a slight smile on his face, however Brandt's frown made him feel a slight twinge of worry in his stomach.

"Have you heard from Benji?" the analyst's voice was laced with concern as he spoke.

"Not since yesterday, why?"

"Well, I'm not quite sure." Brandt walked across the room and sat back down, pulling out his phone and placing it on the table. "He didn't turn up this morning and when I called him, it went straight to voicemail. I've tried him a few times since then, but still-"

"Nothing…" Ethan finished Brandt's sentence, clearly starting to feel some concern. "He's probably still sleeping, he had a lot on his mind yesterday so I sent him home to get rest. I'll go round to his apartment and see if he's coming in today."

"Great." Brandt nodded in contentment. As Ethan turned to walk out of the room, Jane was entering, throwing the team leader a smile as he passed. She noticed the look on his face and her brow furrowed.

"What's up with him?" she asked, placing her jacket on the chair next to Brandt.

"Benji's being lazy by the sounds of it. Ethan's gonna put the fear of god in him." He joked, though deep down he had a strange feeling. Pushing that aside, he smiled at her and they began to talk while they waited for their teammates.

When Ethan arrived at Benji's apartment, he immediately knew that something was up. First off, the front door was not chained; that was not like Benji. As he pushed the door open, he spotted the mess. Items that were no longer in their rightful place, photo frames smashed on the floor. The most disturbing display was the fact that the cabinet that usually stood beautifully across the room, containing glasses from Benji's trips, was upturned with the glass shattered everywhere. Brandt was right to worry about Benji. They just hadn't realised how worried they would need to be. Ethan tried to piece together what might have happened. Clearly Benji had been ambushed in his home; you didn't have to be a rocket scientist to figure that out. He had been unprepared for the attack, however judging by the mess, he was not prepared to go quietly. Benji may have been a timid thing at times, but if he felt that either himself or one of his friends was threatened, he would put up a fight. Crouching down next to the cabinet, he noticed a significant amount of blood on the shards of glass, indicating that someone had been thrown into it. He hoped that it was not Benji, however his gut told him otherwise. He prayed that the lack of a body meant that their friend had not been killed but then again, if Benji wasn't dead then that meant that he was currently in the hands of some potentially dangerous people for unknown reasons. The fact that he was attacked in his apartment showed that this couldn't have been a random abduction; they happen on the street. This was personal.

Considering the timing of the events, Ethan knew that it had to be connected to Benji's cousin somehow. There was no doubt about it. Pulling out his mobile, he dialled the needed number and when the voice answered, he began to speak.

"I need to you to get me an address on one Gus Dickenson."

"Just a moment." There was silence for a few seconds until the voice spoke again and gave Ethan his destination.

"Thanks." He hung up the phone quickly and sprinted out of the apartment, barely avoiding falling as he rushed down the stairs. Unlocking his car, he jumped into the driver's seat and pushed his foot down to the floor on the accelerator. He couldn't get to Gus' apartment fast enough, but he soon arrived outside and continued his race up the stairs to the door. Banging on the wood with his fist, he waited for someone to come. But no one did. He banged on it again, but yet again, no answer. Checking left and right, he made sure that no one was around before kicking the door wide open. A small yelp came from inside, reminding Ethan of Benji when the tech knew he was in trouble. As he rounded a corner, he came face to face with a gun.

"Gus?" Ethan spoke calmly yet with a firm tone mixed it.

"What do you want? Pete send you here to kill me?" Ethan hadn't met Gus before so hadn't realised just how much the man looked like Benji. Obviously, Benji was skinnier, had blonde hair and didn't have facial hair, but this man was definitely related to the technician. There was no questioning that. Come to think of it, he reminded Ethan a lot of when Benji was a technician. The weirdest thing for Ethan, though, was the fact that this man who looked so much like Benji was speaking with an American accent.

"No. I'm a friend of Benji's." Ethan watched as Gus was clearly unsure of what to believe.

"A friend of Benji's, huh?" His voice was uneasy as he kept the gun trained on Ethan.

"Yes. And I assume you know why I'm here." Ethan watched Gus' gaze shift, an obvious 'yes' to his statement. The agent glanced around and noticed that the apartment was upturned, with several items now sitting in a suitcase on the bed behind Gus. "Going somewhere, are we?"

"Uh…" Gus began however Ethan interrupted.

"Skipping town and leaving your cousin in the hands of the men who are after you? That's bold." Gus looked to the ground and slowly let his arm drop before placing the gun back in his jeans. "I take it they called you."

"Yes." Gus spoke angrily yet softly. "I don't wanna die."

"And you think Benji does? You leave town now and you know they won't let him go."

"I know. But…" Gus trailed off, he seemed to be having an inner dilemma about the whole situation. "It's not my job to look out for him."

"But it's his job to help you out of all your little problems." Gus' eyes widened at Ethan's words and the agent nodded with a raised eyebrow. "Yes, Gus, I know all about your little pastime. And I'm guessing you don't want the authorities to find out."

"You wouldn't…" Gus slowly backed away, feeling immediately threatened by the man who he didn't know.

"Oh, I would. You can count on that. There is one thing I never back down on and that it giving bad people exactly what they deserve. Particularly people who put my friends in danger. Now if you want me to keep quiet about your little schemes, then you will prove to me that you are a good person and you will help me get your cousin back safely." Ethan watched as Gus' eyes darted around the room as he weighed up his options.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o


	4. Chapter 4

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Brandt had to try very hard to stop his jaw dropping when Ethan walked back into the room. The team leader had left to find Benji and had now returned with someone else who looked exactly like the tech. He was pretty much the exact same height as Benji, however his hair was slightly shorter and darker. He had a bit of stubble on his chin and was more on the stodgy side, but he reminded him so much of Benji that Brandt had to blink a few times to make sure he wasn't seeing things.

"Uh, Ethan…" Brandt stood and began to make his way across the room. "What's with the Benji doppelganger?" He glanced at the unknown man, noticing the nervous look in his eyes.

"William Brandt, Jane Carter, meet Gus Dickenson. Benji's cousin." With the introduction, Gus lifted a wary hand to try and wave.

"Hi." Jane stood and smiled at Gus as she approached the three men. "Where's Benji?" At those words, Gus lowered his head. Ethan turned his head to the other man.

"Are you gonna tell them or should I?" When Gus didn't make a sound, Ethan sighed and looked up. "Gus here got into trouble with some rather dangerous men. He owes them a lot of money and now…" He had to pause for a moment to take a deep breath before saying what came next. "Now, they've got Benji as incentive for Gus to pay." Jane's sharp intake of breath echoed around the silent room and Brandt squeezed his eyes shut, breathing the word 'damnit'.

"What are we gonna do then?" Brandt asked. "How much money do you owe them? I mean, it's gotta be a significant amount for them to do this."

Gus paused, not really wanting to answer that question. When he found all three glares aimed in his direction, he swallowed. "Twhndthou…" He spoke so fast and quietly that none of them actually heard him.

"How much, sorry?"

"$200,000." He spoke much clearer this time and when the trio heard what he had said, there was a collective feeling of shock and slight disgust. Brandt ran a hand through his hair as he found himself speechless. Ethan simply stared at Gus in disbelief while Jane's mouth hung open slightly. Gus glanced between the three people, suddenly feeling some remorse for getting his cousin caught up in this mess. These people clearly cared a lot about Benji and the concept of losing him seemed to scare them greatly. He hadn't known that sort of friendship for a very long time.

"So do you have the money?" Jane broke the silence with a needed question. When Gus shook his head, her fists clenched of their own accord. "Do you have a way of getting it?" He shook his head again, causing both her and Brandt to feel their frustration grow.

"So how are we gonna get Benji back?" Brandt asked, directing the question at no one in particular. Before anyone could give some form of an answer, there was a shrill ringing from Gus' pocket as his phone went off. The group jumped at the sudden noise and Gus reached a shaky hand down to grab it.

"Hello?"

"Ah, Mr. Dickenson. How are you?"

"I'd be doing a lot better if you didn't have my cousin."

"Oh course. Do you have my payment?"

"Not yet." Gus replied, subtly putting the phone onto speaker so that the others could hear. "I just need some more time."

"Don't worry, Gus, you have time. Five hours to be precise." Jane and Ethan exchanged a nervous glance before the man's voice continued. "Now, I would like you to go to Benjamin's apartment and open up his emails. I shall text you the password; your cousin needed a little persuasion but he was soon happy to give it to us." At those words, Brandt felt his stomach turn in knots at the potential implications of the word 'persuasion'. "Once you are there, you will find something that may interest you."

Gus swallowed hard. "What is it?"

"Oh, you'll find out soon enough. Let's call it… guarantee. I shall speak to you later, Gus, and remember. Tick, tock, tick, tock."

The phone line went dead and all four exchanged glances before moving towards the door. They needed no verbal orders from Ethan; they knew exactly where they had to go.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

They arrived at Benji's apartment as soon as they could and while Ethan searched for the laptop, the others stood in complete shock at the mess before them. They couldn't be certain what had happened exactly, but judging from the state of the place, they had a pretty good idea. The scene made them feel sick; their minds played out various possible scenarios against their will.

When Ethan reappeared, he placed Benji's laptop on the kitchen counter and the group surrounded it. Their insides would not settle as they waited for the power to load. Each second felt like a minute, each minute an hour; time seemed to drag as they watched the screen start up. Once the power had finally turned on, Gus pulled out his mobile and read the log in details for Benji's email account. As the little green bar moved slowly across the screen, they felt the terrifying churning in their stomach caused by not knowing what they were about to see. The screen finally appeared and they saw an email labelled "Dear Gus". It was unusual to see Ethan's hand shaking the way it did as he reached to open the attachment. Suddenly, another window opened and a single person came into view.

It was Benji.

He sat on a chair, arms pulled behind his back and no doubt bound together by some ropes or cuffs. A piece of duct tape covered his usually smiling lips and a blindfold prevented them from seeing his glistening, youthful blue eyes. A thin trail of blood ran down his forehead, a stark contrast between the crimson liquid and his pale skin. Similar splodges of red decorated his face, along with what looked like tiny shards of glass.

They thought that it was merely a photograph, however suddenly, a voice sounded from the laptop speakers.

"Ah, hello Gus." A man came into view and Gus immediately recognised him at Peter McTavish. "In case you're wondering, this isn't pre-recorded. This is a live feed, especially for you. And if I press this button here…" He pressed down on a small remote and a timer appeared on the bottom of the video. "You will see that you have four hours and thirty five minutes left to get me that money. Once that clock runs past zero, things will get a lot worse."

Behind McTavish, the group could see Benji's head moving, as if he was frantically searching for the source of the voice.

"I hope you realise how serious I am by now. But just so that you're absolutely sure…" he turned and nodded to a man who had appeared behind Benji. Suddenly, the man lifted his right hand, which grasped a gun, and brought it down against the back of Benji's skull. The weapon made an audible crack as it made contact with the tech and his head lulled forward as he was sent tumbling into oblivion. "Got it? Four and a half hours until lift off, my friend. See ya later." He turned to the man and both of them disappeared from view, leaving Benji's unconscious form alone.

But the feed didn't end there. The image of Benji remained on screen as the video continued to play and the timer continued to go down. It seemed that McTavish wanted Gus to be able to see what happened the moment that countdown hit zero. And at this rate, whatever he had planned was going to happen, unless Gus could come up with $200,000 within the next four hours.

"You guys stay here." Ethan suddenly spoke up, spinning around to walk into another room.

"Well, what are you gonna do?" she asked, clearly still in shock from what they had witnessed.

"I gotta make a call."

"Call? To where? HQ? What will they be able to do? If we tell them that an agent has been captured-"

"Not HQ." Ethan butted in. "I'm gonna call Luther. We can trust him and he is the only person with skills as good as Benji." He then glanced back to the screen and stared at his friend. "We're gonna track this video feed."

"Track it?" Brandt couldn't understand. "Ethan, do you really think that they're gonna use a feed that can be traced?" As they spoke, Gus stood in utter incredulity. He had always thought Benji worked as an IT assistant for a major corporation, however from what he was hearing, this far exceeded the impression he had been given. His cousin was part of something much bigger and right now, despite his confusion, he felt relieved to know that Benji had friends who knew how to handle this. Because he wouldn't have the faintest clue where to start; his first instinct had been to run and leave Benji to McTavish, but with this Ethan guy and his friends to help, he figured maybe they would be able to get Benji back and also stop McTavish in the process. It would hopefully be a win-win situation for Gus.

"Look," Ethan began, approaching Brandt and Jane so that he could speak quietly. "McTavish doesn't realise who he's actually dealing with. Well, as far as we know, anyway. Right now, he's under the impression that the only person he is facing is Gus, who probably has no more technical skills than a tenth grader." He then turned to Benji's cousin and quickly added "No offence." Gus didn't even have the time to say 'none taken' before the man went on. "I doubt he would have used something that can't be traced because he doesn't think it would be. Now, we have people who can find the source of that video so we can go and bring Benji back."

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Luther arrived at Benji's apartment twenty minutes later and found the three agents sitting with grave expressions decorating their faces. In the corner of the room, sitting on a chair with his legs tucked underneath him, was a man who looked just like Benji. He assumed that was the cousin Ethan had been referring to on the phone. The entire place was silent as he made his way into the main area, Ethan looking up from the laptop that sat on the kitchen counter as he did. No one said anything as Luther stepped closer to the other agent and Ethan merely pointed at the screen.

"Jesus christ…"His voice came out as barely a whisper when he saw Benji on the screen. He remembered the Brit when he had been merely a technician; well, one of the best technicians IMF had to offer. Since then, he had watched from the sidelines as Benji became a field agent. Seeing him in Seattle after they stopped Hendricks had shown him just how much the tech had changed; he was happy to see just how well Benji was doing. Now, to see him in such a horrific situation made him feel physically sick. No one should have to endure what it seemed Benji had; and he had a strong suspicion that it would get worse before they found him.

"Have you got everything?" Ethan asked, standing up from his seat. Luther nodded.

"It was a pain in the ass to get but if it helps Benji then I don't care." Ethan acknowledged this with a small, grateful smile before letting Luther take the seat facing the computer. Before starting his work, the older agent looked up to Ethan and gave him a sincere look. "We'll get him back."

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this one is so short...

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Gus had seen the man enter his cousin's apartment; seen but not really paid attention. He assumed that he was this Luther fellow who Ethan had mentioned earlier. Everything around him seemed so surreal. Sure, deep down he was worried for Benji; the guy was his little cousin for fucks sake. But everyone who knew Gus knew that there was one thing he cared about: Gus. He looked out for number one and he got by. He could have been off in Barbados sipping cocktails on the beach at that moment, yet there he was, trapped in Benji's apartment with a bunch of strangers watching his cousin on a computer screen. He felt like he was going to wake up any second now and find it to be the previous day. No one would have been kidnapped, no one would have been hurt and Gus would have been able to get the money to McTavish in time. But that was too much of a happy ending to be real life. Happy endings were a myth.

Thinking back on _who_ he was now stuck in the apartment with, he really wasn't sure what to make of it. These people, who he'd never met before, had literally jumped into the deep end, not knowing who they were dealing with, and got down to work. One would assume that they had dealt with similar situations before. Maybe not the kidnapping scenario, per se, but stressful situations in which there was a deadline. He assumed their deadlines were often this dire and dangerous, as no one with simple 'office project' time limits would be used to this extreme level of pressure. The pressure when someone's life was in danger. It was almost as if that jeopardy was something they were accustomed to. These people must have been involved in something big to be so capable considering the current circumstances. That fact gave Gus some small fraction of relief that he might get out of this in one piece.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Benji's senses swirled around him as consciousness began to reclaim its place. Soft voices whispered in the distance, sounding as though they were underwater, getting closer before receding again. This was the second time he had regained consciousness since it had first been taken from him at his apartment, but he still hated it just as much. The impending wakening was something Benji never got used to. The first time he had experienced it thanks to his job had been when a tech experiment had gone wrong in his early days at IMF. He and another rookie had been testing out some new equipment but the other tech had flicked the switch too soon and Benji had woken up four hours later with a throbbing in his head and half of his eyebrows missing. After that, it had been the incident with Moreau. He remembered the resounding pain in his head where the something hard had made contact with it and recalled having to push aside the spinning of the hotel room. Since then, moments like these were few and far between, which Benji was fine with. But now, he felt the stickiness of the semi-dried blood on the back of his head, along with the completely hardened liquid on his forehead. His cheeks were still stinging and he was certain he felt tiny shards of glass embedded there.

Judging from what he heard earlier, Gus knew what had happened. He was also certain that Gus probably wouldn't do anything about it.

 _Of all the people to be held for ransom against_ … Benji sighed into the duct tape causing air to rush from his nose. Clearly a bad move, as the whispers fell silent and footsteps began to get close. Benji held his breath, waiting for the inevitable; not that he knew what the inevitable was, but he figured it wasn't good. Despite having the blindfold on, he squeezed his eyes together tighter and wondered what would happen.

"Look who has decided to join us, boys." Benji recognised the voice from earlier – it was the man who had been speaking to his cousin. Suddenly, he felt rough hands grip the hair on the back of his head and pull, causing his head to jolt backwards. He let out a weak groan into the gag and soon felt warm breath on his left ear. It made his skin tingle and the voice that spoke to him caused the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. "Don't worry. If big cousin pays up then you get to go home in one piece. But my buddy over there, he's kinda hoping that Gus doesn't come through. I'm sure he'd have so much fun with you." The words that drifted into his ear made Benji shiver with fear. He knew that he should be able to stand up for himself, he'd essentially faced the end of the world for crying out loud, but considering the circumstances he currently faced, he was sure that he could be given some slack. He wondered if Ethan and the others knew that he was missing. It was surely Monday by now and he could only hope that one of them had gone to look for him when he didn't turn up for work. He also wondered if it was too much to hope that Ethan would put two and two together and figure out that Gus was involved. But maybe that was wishful thinking on a colossal level.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o


	6. Chapter 6

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

The team saw the moment when Benji began to regain consciousness and watched as McTavish marched over to him. They could see his mouth moving, however there was no voice; they must have disabled the sound. Inwardly, this worried Ethan even more. Benji was a tough agent and was more than competent; he was a real asset to the team but Ethan wasn't sure how he would fare in these circumstances. McTavish could have been saying anything to Benji at that moment, taunting him, threatening him, using any and all tactics to make him feel more vulnerable. Benji would have been taught to withstand various verbal attacks in training, however never had to face those sorts of coercions in real life before and that concerned Ethan to no end. He forced his eyes to move from the screen to Luther, who still sat in the same spot, fingers darting over the keyboard in an attempt to trace the feed. The countdown was now at just under 2 hours and they had still not stepped any closer to finding their missing friend.

Gus had watched from his space on the chair, feeling sick to his stomach. He didn't say anything to the others, but he knew first-hand what McTavish was like. He knew how mean-hearted, evil and twisted that man could be when the right buttons were pushed; and right now, Gus had hit those buttons enough times to override the system. He had observed the rough way his cousin was being treated and despite his self-centred personality, he did feel a slither of concern for Benji. But deep down he knew it was really on an egocentric level. If anything happened to Benji or, worse, he didn't make it out of this alive, Gus knew that he would have this Ethan man and his friends to deal with. And as tough as Gus was, his lack of knowledge about these people made him fear what they were capable of. He would be screwed if Benji didn't make it. He heard a voice and looked up from where his gaze had been glued to the broken cabinet that still lay strewn across the carpet.

"How are we going, Luther?" Ethan placed one hand on the back of his friend's chair and one on the desk as he bent to check the screen.

_1:28:00._

"I dunno, Ethan." Luther sounded just as desperate and broken as Ethan felt. "We've got less than ninety minutes until that countdown ends and I feel like I haven't gotten anywhere yet. I mean… I know I have. I'm close. But it just feels like…"

"Hey." Ethan crouched down and moved a hand to Luther's shoulder, giving it a reassuring squeeze. "You're doing great. You got this. Ok?" When Luther nodded, Ethan gave a small smile before rising back to full height and crossing the room to his two other teammates. He looked to Jane who sat on the sofa opposite Gus and bent to her height. "You alright?" The heartfelt yet confused glance she threw him spoke volumes to him and he went on. "We're gonna get Benji back, alright?"

"How can you be so calm about this?" Her voice was almost a hoarse whisper and was full of emotion, yet she managed to hold onto that strength that was so remarkably 'Jane'.

"She's right." Ethan looked up to see Brandt, standing in a doorway, one hand on the frame as he leant against it. He wasn't looking at them, however when Ethan didn't reply straight away, he turned. "You act like nothing's wrong but don't you get it? We're running out of time."

"You think I don't know that?" Ethan stood back up so that he could look Brandt in the eye and took a step forward. "You think I don't see what you see?" Ethan pointed a sturdy hand towards the laptop screen. "That is my man in there."

"Then why don't you act like it?" Brandt took a step towards Ethan and raised his eyebrows at the older man. "Huh?"

Gus sat watching the pair, eyes flicking between each man. He saw the verbal attacks flying and noticed that Jane hadn't flinched yet. He assumed this clashing of heads was a regular occurrence for these people. Checking the other side of the room, he saw that the man on the computer hadn't turned. Jane's attention was on the argument in front of her and the other two men were too busy preventing themselves from throwing punches so maybe… Just maybe…

"Don't…" Ethan warned. His friendship and loyalty towards Benji was one thing he never wanted to be doubted.

"Don't _what_ , Ethan?" Brandt held out his hands. "If you care about Benji so much then why aren't you-"

"Let me get one thing straight, Brandt. Benji is my friend. He has been for a long time. I care about him a lot and he has helped me through things you can't imagine. You haven't known him as long as me, so don't you dare presume to tell me how to watch out for-"

"Don't even think about it!" Jane's voice snapped both men back to reality and they turned, however were confused to find she was not looking at them. All people in the room, including Luther, moved their gaze to the centre of the room, where Gus was now frozen, halfway to the door.

"Shit…" They heard the man whisper.

"Where do you think you're going?" Brandt asked, sternly. Gus' eyes darted between each member of the group, noticing the deadly serious expressions on their faces and, knowing that he had no hope of escape, he flopped down into the nearest chair with a huff. Once they were sure Gus wasn't going anywhere, Jane turned to her friends.

"We need to calm down and keep our minds on track." She looked between Luther and Gus before letting her gaze fall on Ethan and Brandt. "All of us."

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Benji couldn't see a clock or hear anyone discussing it, but he wasn't dumb. He knew that he was running out of what precious time he had left and he had a suspicious feeling that Gus was half way to Rio by now. He wasn't getting out of this alive and that concept frightened him to no end. He really wasn't ready to die; he'd faced the end of the world as he knew it yet had come out unscathed. He should be used to it. However right then and there, he wasn't able to do anything to prevent this inevitable fate. No gun to pull out and shoot the bad guy now. All he could do was sit there and wait to be killed, like an animal waiting for the slaughter. Except animals didn't usually know that they were about to die, so this felt slightly worse than that.

Now that he thought of it, he was kind of glad he didn't know how long he had left. At least that way, he wouldn't be watching the time disappear as his last moments of life passed him by. He just hoped that whatever they had in store for him would be quick. He didn't fancy a slow death. To be perfectly honest, he didn't want to die at all, but he really didn't feel like he had much choice.

_Gunshot to the head. Nice and fast. Better than getting stabbed or-_

_SHUT UP BENJI!_

Scolding himself… Great. Not only had he been beaten physically, but his mind was on its way out too now. Just what he needed.

Suddenly, footsteps began to get closer again and Benji feared the worst. Was this it? Was his time up?

"Time's running out, Benjamin." The voice was starting to be familiar to him now, yet it's evil and taunting sound never got old. "Something tells me that Gus has done a runner and left you for the dogs." Benji inadvertently tensed up at these words and his captor felt it. "Oh, not literally, son." Benji tried to calm his racing heart when he felt the man's lips practically touch his ear. "Though, when we're through with you, you'll be wishing it was."

 _So much for trying to calm down_ … Benji thought as his heart rate increased threefold and his stomach turned. He had a feeling that a quick death wasn't what was in store for him. As he heard the footsteps retract, the man's voice echoed around the room.

"Tick, tock, tick, tock…"

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o


	7. Chapter 7

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

The clock was getting terrifyingly close to zero yet Luther continued to type away. Using any and all tricks he knew, he was determined to beat these men and bring Benji home. His fingers ached from typing, his hands had cramp of an almost unbearable level and beads of sweat tickled his cheeks but he would not give up. Not now.

Ethan paced the room. Jane was back in her seat, never taking her eyes off Gus, who was one wrong move away from being strapped down, and Brandt was perched against the windowsill. All four knew there was nothing that they could do but watch Luther work. They wished that they could help in some way but they continued to feel useless. When the clock had bypassed the ten minute mark, the fluctuating sickening feeling in their stomachs had taken over completely. Despite trying to maintain hope for their friend, they began to feel affected by the concern of what might happen if Luther didn't make it. They knew he was good at his job, but watching the countdown wasn't very reassuring. Ethan stopped for a moment to look at the screen. Avoiding looking at the timer, he focused on Benji. As he stared, he wondered if he hadn't sent the Brit home the previous night, would he have been safely with them at that moment. Shaking himself, he reassured himself that it wasn't his fault. If these men had wanted to take Benji, they would have done it one way or another.

Breaking him out of his thoughts was the sound of Luther's mumbling suddenly becoming more and more frantic. Tearing his gaze from the screen, he moved his eyes onto Luther, who had the slightest hint of a smile on his face. This gave him hope.

"Luther?" He bent down next to the man and bit his lip.

"If I can just… almost there…" Ethan's heart raced with anticipation and he begged for it all to work out as he watched Luther hit a final button. "Got them!"

Jane, Brandt and Gus all rushed over to the laptop and saw that they finally had a location for where the kidnappers were holding their friend; however a rapid beeping from the speakers suddenly made them freeze.

"What's that?" Jane asked as they glanced back to the window with Benji on. Their eyes were drawn to the timer.

_00.00.05_

_00.00.04_

_00.00.03_

_00.00.02_

_00.00.01_

_00.00.00_

"No…" Ethan breathed as they watched a man wander into view.

"Well well Gus." McTavish's voice drifted from the laptop once again. "I'm afraid that's it. Say goodbye to your little cousin." With a final smile, he turned and pointed to Benji, who was frantically looking around. Two men appeared on the screen and lifted Benji from the chair, his hands still bound, before carrying him out of sight. They noticed his struggle against the tight grip and could hear him screaming into the gag as he disappeared. "Pleasure doing business with you. Let's not do this again, shall we?"

Then, the screen went black.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Benji felt himself lifted from the chair by rough hands and tried to struggle, despite knowing it was futile. In his mind he was screaming all sorts of obscenities at the men, however his efforts came out as muffled yells. Over his cries, he heard the man bidding farewell to Gus and before he could stop it, he felt himself flying through the air. He hit the ground with a horrific thud, pain jolting through his shoulder and the pain in his already broken arm returning ten times worse as he found himself rolling to a halt. Trying to force away the dizziness, he felt hands grab the front of his jacket and lift him up, a fist connecting with his jaw, snapping his already throbbing head to the side.

"Wait!" The man's voice echoed around the room and the attack stopped. A few moments of silence followed before the blindfold was pulled from his head and he finally came face to face with his captor. "Let's allow him to watch, shall we?"

Benji's gaze was stuck to his captor as he stood up and stepped back, leaving the other two men to it. Another punch to the jaw jolted Benji back to reality, quite literally, and then another caused him to feel his jaw dislocate. He let out a cry of pain into the gag and squeezed his eyes shut, feeling a fourth punch, this time to the temple. His world began to spin and the man let go of him, causing his body to crash back to the concrete. Trying to control his rapid breathing, which was difficult through his nose, he blinked away black spots and waited for the next attack. He didn't have to wait long.

The man who stood above him delivered a forceful kick to his side, a second resulting in him rolling over to face away from him. The only issue with this was that the other man was standing there and began his own assault. He felt the man's steel-capped boots force themselves into his exposed torso repeatedly, the pain of each rib cracking almost too much for him to handle. His vision was quickly getting blurry and he wasn't sure how much longer he could hold onto consciousness for. At least if he passed out he wouldn't be as aware when he was dealt his death card. He could feel blood rising through his throat, however the duct tape over his mouth prevented him from spitting it out. He began to worry that he would choke to death before they killed him; he wasn't really sure which was worse. The next kick was angled higher, dislocating his shoulder with one swift movement before the same shoulder was hit again. His entire body ached and screamed yet there was nothing he could do to defend himself. This was it.

After what seemed like a lifetime, the leader of the men called out and the assault stopped. Benji was barely able to keep his eyes open as he saw the man get closer to him. He watched the man's hand reach out and felt slight relief when the duct tape was pulled from his lips. Almost instantly, he began to cough as blood poured from his mouth. Gasping for much needed air, he realised that it was now more and more painful to breathe. As he blinked, he saw one of his attackers bring his foot back once more.

He didn't even have the time to register the crunching of his nose under the force of the kick before he tumbled away from reality.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o


	8. Chapter 8

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

"This can't be happening…" Brandt was the first to break the silence that had stolen all of their voices. After watching Benji being dragged away to his death, none of them knew what to say, yet Brandt managed to sum up all of their feelings in one sentence.

Disbelief, denial, sorrow, anger.

Ethan turned to Gus, who was shaking slightly. As their gazes met, Gus' eyes widened and he stepped back slightly.

"Happy now?" Ethan spoke in a monotonous voice, not a single emotion was displayed as he took a step towards Benji's cousin. "Benji's taken the fall for you, but do you really think McTavish is gonna let you just walk away?"

"I…"

"Don't you say a word." Jane interrupted him before he could utter another syllable. Gus slammed his mouth shut, cowering under the glare of all four of them. There was another bout of silence before Luther asked the much needed question.

"So, what are we gonna do now, Ethan?"

The team leader thought on Luther's question. His man had been taken. His man had been killed. It was more than his 'man' though; Benji was his friend. He had been his friend for a long time and when someone takes a friend away, they shouldn't get away with it. They were going to pay.

"Ethan?" Jane urged him to speak. All of them knew what they wanted to do, however they needed to hear Ethan say it first. When he finally managed to tear his eyes from Gus, he looked between the three waiting members of his team. Licking his lips, he blinked a few times before speaking.

"We go after McTavish." Ethan sensed Gus sigh with relief nearby, so turned back to him. "But we're not doing this for Gus. You'll face the consequences soon enough. We're doing this for Benji." When the others nodded and began to prepare themselves, Ethan turned back to Gus. "You are coming with us."

"Me?" Gus seemed shocked at this but Ethan walked away before he could reply. He then turned to Brandt. "Why do I have to go?"

"Because we want you to see exactly what happens when you mess with our friends." Brandt spoke with a mixture of malice and pain as he checked his gun. Gus stared blankly as he watched the group collect their things.

"Great…"

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

The drive to where McTavish would be was deadly silent. No one wanted to talk about the elephant in the room, Benji's death, yet it lingered there dreadfully. Luther drove with Jane in the passenger seat. Ethan and Brandt sat either side of Gus in the back of the van, his gaze glued to the guns they were holding. Of course Gus had been around weaponry before, but this time, he felt slightly threatened by its presence. He glanced around at each of them. He still had no real clue who any of them were. All he knew was that they were friends of Benji and now they were pissed off with him.

Majorly pissed off.

He wasn't sure what these people were capable of and now that he had caused Benji's death, his fear of this increased tenfold. He really hoped that once this was over, he would be able to go and get on with his life. At least he wouldn't have to worry about McTavish anymore after this.

Jane stared out of the window, trying to not think of what Benji went through at McTavish's hands. She at least hoped that they gave him a quick and painless death. Well, as painless as death can be. She tried to look for any kind of positive thought regarding the situation; something like 'at least he isn't suffering anymore'. But it did no good. Lifting a hand, she wiped away a tear as subtly as she could, but it didn't get past Luther, who offered her a sympathetic smile. He had known Benji much longer than Jane had, so knew exactly how she was feeling. The Brit was a good friend; he was sure that both Ethan and Brandt would feel the same. Hell, to them he was probably more like a brother.

It was going to be hard adjusting to life without him.

Ethan and Brandt exchanged a glance in the back, trying to comfort one another without the use of words. No one wanted to break the silence; it felt like it was needed. Almost as if they were paying their respects to Benji. The silence allowed them to not only mentally prepare themselves for the moments that would follow, but also to remember their friend. He was always so cheerful; always the one to brighten the mood. Granted, sometimes his bubbly personality wasn't appropriately placed, but it was refreshing to see someone with so much optimism in their line of work. On the Cobalt mission, the other three team members had all been fighting some personal demons, however Benji was the happy-go-lucky one who tried to help them through. His witty comments often gave them a brief moment of relief from the mission at hand and they owed him a lot for that. It would be very different going on without those little moments.

Brandt suddenly remembered the end of that mission. Benji had been struggling with what they had been through, what they had faced; the true magnitude of what they had prevented. His upbeat attitude had slipped for a few moments as he began to speak of how he felt, yet it occurred to Brandt that he had pretty much shot him down. His heart ached as he came to the realisation that Benji had been trying to talk about the effect this had on him and he had merely interrupted him. It really was moments like these when you see what you didn't before. He tried to shake himself, he couldn't let this become like Croatia all over again. Ethan seemed to sense this inner struggle and opened his mouth to speak when suddenly Luther stopped the van.

"We're here." He spoke with an emotionless voice and looked up into the rear view mirror. Glancing out of the window, Ethan saw the building a few hundred yards down the street. This was it. The place where they would come face to face with McTavish and probably find Benji's body – that was, if they hadn't disposed of him already. The team leader tried to shake the images of what they might have done out of his head and nodded at the others.

"Let's go." He paused for a second, glancing at each of his friends. "For Benji."

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Before entering the building, they split into two groups. Ethan, Luther and Gus took the front while Brandt and Jane went around to the back entrance. Gus walked between the two agents, knowing that he was definitely not going anywhere but wherever Ethan went. They trod as quietly as they could, wanting to maintain the element of surprise; both agents had their guns at the ready and were tensed up for what they were about to face. Gus was pretty certain that he could hear his own heart in his ears and was beginning to shake. These guys killed Benji. He couldn't imagine them being too happy to see him now. That fact in mind, Gus came to the realistic conclusion that every person currently in the building – other than himself – hated him right now. That was just fantastic. He let out an audible sigh which he instantly regretted when Ethan turned to him and shot a glare in his direction. Holding up his hands in defeat, he threw an apologetic glance back to the other man before the silence fell over them once more.

However it was soon broken again. And this time, not by Gus.

The gunshot which rang out made all three men jump. Ethan and Luther instinctively hit the deck, crouching low and looking around for the shooter. Neither agent could see anyone around and wondered whether Brandt or Jane were in danger, however when they heard a noise from above them, Ethan's stomach turned. Still standing, clutching at a gaping hole in his chest, was Gus. His eyes met Ethan's for a brief moment, pain and confusion emitting from them before the man's legs gave out.

"Shit…" Ethan reached out and grabbed Gus, resting his upper body on his lap as Luther ran out of sight in search of the shooter. "Gus, stay with me, ok?" Ethan watched as blood poured from Gus' chest and from his mouth soon after. He really wasn't sure what to make of what was happening. Everything that had happened throughout the past day was making his head hurt. First, his friend was kidnapped, and then killed; now his friend's cousin was dying. He was unsure how he felt at that moment; maybe it was under the exhaustion and emotions of what had happened, but he couldn't decide how to react to the fact that Gus was lying in his arms, bleeding to death. Sure, he was Benji's cousin, and seeing someone die was never pleasant but this man ultimately caused Benji's death. The mixture of emotions as he watched Gus coughing up the crimson liquid was intense and he tried to clear his head by speaking. "Stay awake, Gus. You're not getting out of this that easy." The comment was half a joke, but the part which was genuine clearly came out strongest as Gus' face contorted into a wince.

"I…" He began to speak, however each breath came out as a rasp, therefore speaking would be even more difficult.

"Shut up, Gus. Don't try to speak." Ethan scolded him, awkwardly pulling off his jacket to press on the wound.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o


	9. Chapter 9

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Brandt and Jane heard the gunshot and feared the worst. The lack of knowledge regarding where that bullet ended up made their stomachs twist and their hearts race. Sharing a nervous glance, they silently tried to reassure each other that the others were alright when suddenly they heard Ethan's voice in their ear.

_"Shit… Gus, stay with me, ok?"_

Jane bit her lip as she looked to the ground. First Benji and now Benji's cousin. Even though she disliked Gus for pulling Benji into this mess, she still felt the slight inkling of melancholy as she heard Ethan telling Gus to be quiet. Looking back to Brandt, she saw the emotion in his eyes and knew he must have been feeling the same way. They suddenly thought of what Ethan must have been seeing at that moment. Knowing that Benji has been killed less than an hour earlier, to now have Gus, who reminded them so much of the tech, lying in his arms dying… They didn't want to imagine what the man was thinking at that moment. Brandt opened his mouth to say something to comfort Ethan however another gunshot echoed around the building and the pair crouched down. They saw a man running towards them with a weapon aimed in their direction, yet Brandt promptly fired his gun, taking him down immediately. They stood up again and ran towards the body, only to see another man appear around the corner. As Jane lifted her gun to shoot, an arm wrapped around her throat from behind, causing her gun to misfire. Brandt jumped, just missing being hit with the bullet as he spun to see her fighting her attacker. He made to run to her aid but the other man ran at him, kicking out at his chest and sending him flying.

Jane fought hard, escaping the iron grip with just a few swift movements before beginning an attack of her own. She heard a gunshot from behind her however felt no fear that Brandt may have been shot; she had every faith that he could handle himself as she kept her attention on her goon friend. The man was strong, however a perfectly timed kick to the groin allowed her the distraction she needed to render him unconscious. She turned to check on Brandt however was greeted with a terrible sight.

Her friend was standing in front of her, disarmed as McTavish held a gun to his head.

_Shit…_

Without a second thought, she grabbed her gun and aimed it at the man she had just been fighting. She needed something to bargain with. She'd already lost one friend today; she didn't want to make it two.

"Nice try, sweetheart." McTavish's use of the pet-name made Jane's teeth grit together so much so she thought she made grind them out. "Go ahead. Shoot him. See if I care." Jane realised that threatening this man would do nothing, yet she maintained her hold on the gun. "Now, I'd like to ask a little question, seeing as I'm the one holding all the cards. And of course 'cards' is a metaphor for this thing." He motioned towards the gun. "My question is: what the hell are you doing here?" Both Jane and Brandt kept their mouths shut, neither wanting to let him know that they were friends of Benji's. Tell him that and then he had even more of a power play over them. "Not talking are we? Hmm. That's a real shame." He prepared the gun and pushed it harder into Brandt's skull. "I guess I'm gonna have to count to three. One…"

Brandt squeezed his eyes shut.

"Two…"

Jane held her breath as she tried to maintain composure.

"Three."

The sound of the gunshot resounded in Brandt's ears, however he felt nothing. The sound of a body falling down next to him made him wonder if he really had been lucky. Had there been a repeat of Mumbai?

Suddenly a thought hit him.

Benji?

Maybe Benji wasn't really dead. Maybe he had just been kept somewhere but had escaped and…

He opened his eyes waiting to see his friend there.

He did see his friend when he looked, however it wasn't Benji.

"Are you two ok?" Luther asked, glancing down at where McTavish now lay with a single bullet hole in his forehead. Jane nodded as she bent down to check on their captive. Brandt, however, stood merely staring at McTavish's body, the reality of Benji's death having hit him like a freight train. "Brandt?" Luther probed for any sign of acknowledgement and, after what felt like an hour, he blinked.

"Hmm?" The look in the analyst's eyes was so lost. He seemed rather vulnerable – a far cry from the usual Brandt.

"Luther, grab me those ropes." Jane interrupted, pointing towards a nearby crate. He grabbed them and Jane secured them around the man's wrists; once they were tied tightly, he began to stir. At first he struggled, however when Jane pressed her gun into his forehead, he stopped in his tracks.

"What are you doing here?" the man spat.

"We are here because you killed our friend." Luther spoke with authority and rage mixed together, yet he sounded completely calm at the same time.

"Your friend?"

"Yeah, you might remember him. Blonde hair, has a slimy cousin who owed your boss here a lot of money."

"Wait… you're his friends?" the man seemed shocked. "McTavish didn't say that Gus' cousin was a cop."

"We're not cops." Brandt had finally found his voice again. "But when we're through with you, you'll wish we were."

"W-w-w-wait…." He tried to shuffle back as Jane cracked her knuckles. Both other agents knew that she was capable of a lot more than people credited her for. "Stop!" His eyes flicked between the three people before him when he suddenly yelled out. "He's not dead!"

"What?" Brandt couldn't quite grasp what he was saying.

"What the hell do you mean?" Luther expanded on the analyst's question.

"Your friend. He's not dead." The man's voice was pleading as he spoke. "He isn't dead; at least, he wasn't when I last saw him."

"What do you mean when you last saw him?" Jane queried.

"When I left him. He was still alive. But he's not exactly in a good condition, so I don't know about now…"

"Crap." Luther breathed. "Ethan, did you hear that?"

"Yeah." Ethan replied through the comm. Hearing that their friend still had a slither of a chance made him feel slightly better. "Gus. Good news. Benji might still be-" He looked down at the man in his arms to see his eyes closed. "Gus?" He shook him slightly trying to rouse him, yet there was no response. Reaching a hand to Gus' neck, he felt sick to find no pulse.

"Ethan, what is it?" Luther asked.

"Gus is dead…" he spoke with slight disbelief. The man may have been dodgy and may have been the reason that Benji got into this mess, but he had now died convinced that he caused his cousin's death when there was still a slight change of hope. He heard the sharp intake of breath from Jane and shook his head. "Jane. Find out where they took Benji. We need to get to him."

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Pain lets us know that we are alive.

And the amount of pain that Benji felt as he regained consciousness must have meant that he was more alive than he had ever been. Yet he knew that life was the one thing that was running out. Having been hoping for a quick death, waking up now made a lump form in his throat. Why couldn't they have just killed him? Surely that would be better than what he felt at that moment. Keeping his eyes squeezed shut, he let the cold breeze wash over him as he lay on what felt like twigs and grass. His arms were still pulled behind him, the pain in his broken arm and dislocated shoulder merely merging with the rest of his aching body. His head throbbed from numerous wounds, he had lost the ability to breathe through his nose and his jaw was slack from its dislocation. However it was the internal injuries he knew he had that worried him most. His body was making it clear that he was bleeding internally somewhere from the beatings and he knew that it was only a matter of time before one of his broken ribs punctured his lung. Or maybe it already had. He couldn't be certain as he was already having trouble breathing due to the general agony and the chest pains he already felt could have been masking the pain of the puncture.

_Masking… masks… everybody gets to wear a mask but Benji…_

He blinked a few times. His mind was on its way out. Great. He could feel his body beginning to shake. Was that the cold or shock? He couldn't be certain anymore. He couldn't move, couldn't speak… Even if he could, where would he go? Who would he call for? It seemed that he had been dumped in the middle of nowhere and left to die. His team wouldn't even know where to start looking for him. Gus would be long gone.

This was it.

He was going to die and he was going to die alone.

His breathing became more rapid and shallow. He could feel reality slipping away from him and he couldn't stop the tears forming in his eyes. As he lay on his side, they dripped across his face and onto the leaves below. Leaving tears for the world as he left it…

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o


	10. Chapter 10

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Luther was sure that he broke at least ten road rules as he sped the van to the location the man had given them. They had left him tied up and gagged in a closet within the building before rushing out to their vehicle. Gus' body had also been left behind, knowing that the police would no doubt be on their way and would find him. As the road became more and more desolate, they knew that they were getting close. It made them sick to hear what the man had told them; that instead of killing Benji, they beat him to a pulp and dumped him in a forest where he would merely die slowly. The man had smirked as he spoke these words, causing Jane to reward him with a fractured jaw. Now they were speeding along the dirt track, trees whizzing by on either side as they followed the directions to the location they had been given. They sincerely hoped that it wasn't a lie.

"Here! Turn here." Ethan yelled as he spotted a corner they needed to take. They were amazed that Luther didn't roll the van at the speed he took the turn. Ethan looked back down to the device he held; it was one that Benji had made himself. "Ok, according to this, he's about twenty metres through the trees that way." Ethan pointed to his two o'clock and the van screeched to a halt. They were out of the vehicle in a heartbeat and began to race; their feet barely hit the ground with each step as they virtually leapt across the uneven surface. It was dark now, so they each held a flashlight to aid the search for their friend.

"Anything?" Jane shouted.

"Nothing." Luther responded, deflation evident in his voice.

"I can't see him…" Brandt's voice drifted through the dim moonlight, sounding broken and lost.

"Damnit…" Jane breathed, bringing a hand to run through her hair as she fought back the tears.

"Guys!" Ethan's voice echoed around them. "Over here!" The others frantically searched for the source of his shouts and finally spotted him. He was about five to ten metres away from them, slowly approaching a motionless figure.

They knew right away that it was Benji.

He wasn't moving. Not even a slightly rhythmic movement of his chest could indicate life. He was covered in blood… So much blood…

As Ethan stepped closer to their friend, Jane couldn't stop herself from giving into the tears. She had tried so hard to remain strong, yet seeing Benji lying there was too much. It was like Trevor all over again. Sure, Benji wasn't her lover, but he was one of her closest friends… She turned to Brandt and crumbled against his chest as he wrapped his arms around her. She was sure she felt his breathing change patterns as he fought his own emotions. Luther merely stood in stunned silence as he watched the moments unfold. He didn't know Benji as well as the others, however he certainly had some good memories of the Brit. He figured that all he could do now would be cling to those.

Ethan's heart pounded against his chest as he finally stopped standing over his friend. His eyes were closed and his skin was a pale shade of blue. Crouching down next to him, he gently touched Benji's shoulder, carefully rolling him onto his back without causing more damage to his already broken body. He could see that one arm was fractured while the other was dislocated at the shoulder. He was too scared to lift the tech's shirt, knowing there would be many bruises he did not wish to see. The blood that covered his pale skin was illuminated by his torch and made him feel sick; the visible signs of what Benji went through at their hands were overpowering his ability to keep calm. He placed a caring hand on his friend's head, softly stroking the blonde hair as he fought down his emotions.

Suddenly, something inside him made him reach for Benji's neck. He wasn't sure why he did it, but he placed two wary fingers against his pulse point.

"Oh my god…" his voice came out as a whisper.

Brandt watched Ethan tenderly care for Benji as he lay there; he had never seen the agent act this way before so it was quite a shock. He and Luther shared a brief glance as Jane remained buried in his chest when suddenly they heard Ethan say something.

"Ethan?" he asked, curious.

"He's alive…" Ethan's voice was full of disbelief as he spun his head around to face them. "Benji's alive!"

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

If Luther thought he had sped to find Benji, he beat that record my miles as he raced their friend to the nearest hospital. Ethan and Brandt sat in the back again, this time looking after Benji; Jane was unable to fit in the back without it becoming crowded, so she sat in the passenger seat, her head turned the entire time. She did not want to take her eyes off the tech, for fear of something happening. Luther would check in the rearview mirror what felt like every few seconds.

Benji lay so still in, his head and upper back lying in Brandt's lap while Ethan sat alongside him, holding his hand tightly. His skin was ice cold from being left outside and it was still of a sickeningly blue shade caused by what they could only assume to be lack of oxygen. While Ethan stared at his friend's face, his eyes taking in the sight of the blood adorning it, Brandt couldn't take his eyes off Benji's torso. It was barely noticeable, however he had seen the tiniest movement of the tech's chest through the slightest of rapid, shallow breaths; he had to concentrate on that to let himself know that Benji still had a chance. Every bump that the van went over along the way made them fear potential injury; they couldn't be sure what Benji had endured at the hands of McTavish but they didn't want to add anything to it.

He looked broken enough.

Luther saw the signpost for the hospital and bit down on his lip.

"We're almost there, guys. Just hold on." He turned the final corner and pulled up outside. As he got out, he yelled to some nearby doctors who immediately ran to their aid. Pulling a stretcher to the back of the van, they managed to carefully get Benji's limp form onto it before wheeling him inside. The four agents ran after them, hearing all sorts of medical terms being thrown around as Ethan answered questions such as his name, age etcetera. They watched them checking his pupils, searching for a pulse, doing all sorts of checks that they knew were necessary, yet observing the way their friend remained completely unresponsive made them feel sick. They saw a set of doors get pushed open and their hearts sank at the certain knowledge that once Benji went through those doors, they could not follow. They could merely wait.

Once they lost the sight of Benji, no one knew what to do. Waiting was the last thing they wanted to do; the concept of sitting around twirling their thumbs just waiting on news was so unwanted, yet there really was nothing that they could do. All of the men responsible had been taken care of, be it by the police or the bullet of a gun. The only thing that they needed to worry about other than their friend was Gus. It was highly likely that he would have been found by the police and taken to the morgue. If Benji pulled through he would no doubt be required to identify the body.

As the thought passed through Ethan's mind, he had to scold himself mentally.

_Not 'if', Ethan. 'When' he pulls through…_

But before any of that, Benji would just have to recover from this. They knew that they would need to face the job of informing their friend that his cousin was dead, but that had to wait. Benji needed to get better first. After waiting in the corridor for about half an hour, the group were ushered into another room by a nurse who proceeded to offer them coffee.

 _We don't need crappy hospital coffee_ … Ethan thought to himself. _We need our friend…_

They politely declined and found themselves waiting once more. As Brandt paced the room, Luther and Jane occupied the double couch, Jane sitting cross-legged leaning back and staring at the ceiling. Ethan sat on the single sofa, his elbows resting on his knees with his hands propping up his head as he stared intently at the door. Brandt gave an audible sigh, shoving his hands in his pockets to stop them from shaking. As an analyst, he had been blessed with the patience of a saint, yet at that moment, he was really struggling to keep calm. After believing that Benji had died once that day, then finding out that he was still alive, they did not want to have to relive those emotions yet again.

He had to pull through.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

"How is he?" Brandt was across the room asking the question before the doctor had even shut the door behind him. The others were also standing in a heartbeat, virtually surrounding the doctor as he tried to make his way to the sofas.

"Please have a seat." He gestured towards the furniture and the agents feared the worst. Once they were all sitting, the doctor began to speak again. "Mr Dunn suffered extremely severe injuries, as I'm sure you are all aware. He had a ruptured spleen, which resulted in quite serious internal bleeding; while we stopped the bleeding, I'm afraid that we were unable to save the organ and had to remove in entirely. He also received five broken ribs, one of which punctured his left lung. We have been able to repair the damage, however he will need to undergo extensive treatment to restore the collapsed lung. His right arm was badly broken and his left was dislocated at the shoulder. Amongst his other injuries, he had a broken nose, dislocated jaw, several nasty head wounds summating to a major concussion along with numerous bruises and abrasions to his face, neck and torso."

Now they understood why the doctor had asked them to sit down.

"Doctor," Ethan began. "Regarding Benji's spleen. I've heard that removal can cause health issues in the future…" He felt even more nervous when the doctor nodded.

"The spleen plays a large factor in fighting bacteria and therefore removal of the organ will hinder the body's ability to fight of infections and illnesses. He will need to be monitored and it is vital that he receives vaccinations for the likes of pneumococcus and meningococcal disease. It is also advised that he wear a medical alert bracelet, just to be safe."

"But other than that, he's gonna be ok?" Brandt asked, timidly. Sure, the concept of what Benji would now face for the rest of his life was frightening, but as long as he was going to be alright, they would be able to help him through that.

"He is definitely a fighter. He will need to remain at the hospital for some time in order to heal, however I can foresee him making a successful recovery. There is a chance that he could have some trouble in the future due to the concussion, such as headaches and some sleep problems, but he is very lucky that you brought him here when you did." As he began to walk out, Jane spoke up.

"Are we able to see him?" She pleaded with her eyes yet the doctor shook his head slightly.

"I'm afraid that he is still unconscious and will be for quite some time as we have to work on his collapsed lung. We'll be keeping him in an induced coma just for the time being, until his lung is strong enough for him to breathe on his own." When the team nodded, the doctor raised his eyebrows. "You all look like you could use some sleep. Why don't you go home, rest up and have something to eat. You can come back to visit him tomorrow." The team were reluctant, yet complied with what the doctor had said. Hearing that Benji was going to be ok made them feel slightly more at ease. They wouldn't be able to fully relax until they saw him, yet just knowing that he wasn't in any immediate danger made them breathe easy. He was safe and that was what mattered.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o


	11. Chapter 11

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

The group returned the following afternoon and arrived to the news they had expects: the fact that there was no news. The barbiturates were keeping Benji asleep as planned and he remained in a stable condition. They were the words that they had wanted to hear. The four anxious agents followed the doctor up to the third floor of the hospital and through the winding corridors until they finally reached Benji's room. As the door opened, despite knowing he would not wake up they still entered silently. He looked tiny in the hospital bed, swamped by the sheets and the bandages that had been wrapped around his head. His right arm was in a cast and both his jaw and nose were bandaged up. Despite having seen Benji the previous day, having heard what he had been through and the injuries he had suffered, actually seeing him there looking so vulnerable caused the reality of the situation to set in. When they had found their friend, they had still been in shock, unable to fully comprehend what he had endured. Now, they were fully aware of what had been inflicted on him and seeing him just reiterated how serious it all was.

"As I said yesterday, he won't be waking up for some time, however you are welcome to sit with him. You can talk to him if you like, too. He may be able to hear you; knowing that someone is there will be comforting for him." They nodded and after doing a few checks on Benji, the doctor approached the door. "I'll leave you alone with him. I'll be down the hall if you need me."

Once he had disappeared, the four agents fell into a collective silence as they stared at their fallen friend. He looked so pale as he lay there; the only movement was the rising and falling of his chest as he breathed. This movement felt so wonderful, having barely been visible the day before. Jane pulled a chair close to the bed and grabbed Benji's left hand.

"Hey Benj." She looked at his face with a gentle smile. She really didn't know what to say, glancing up to her friends for some assistance. Brandt turned to Ethan and took a step forward.

"Benji, you better get better soon, ok? Can't have our infamous banters without you, now can I?" Brandt could feel the lump forming in his throat as he spoke. He knew that Benji was ok and that he would recover, but no matter how many times he told himself that, the image in front of him beat down the logic. "We're just glad you're ok, you're on the mend, so don't do anything stupid and get any worse. Or you'll have us to deal with." He turned to Ethan and found him shaking his head slightly.

"What is it?" Luther asked.

"Even though Gus was the one who caused all of this, I can't…" He took in a deep breath. "It just doesn't feel right that he died thinking that Benji was dead." Brandt narrowed his gaze on the man.

"What?" The analyst's voice was almost a whisper. "Are you really feeling some sort of sympathy for the guy?"

"I never sa-"

"Ethan, have you seen Benji lately? Look at him?" He pointed to their friend, almost hitting Jane as he thrust his arm out. "He almost died because of that man. How can you show any remorse for what happened to him?" Ethan looked between his three teammates as he tried to figure out how to respond. His eyes then fell on Benji's motionless figure. Taking in a few deep breaths, he found himself glaring at Brandt again.

"I need some air." He didn't wait for any response before turning and leaving the room. He had to try so hard to not slam the door as he walked into the corridor, finding himself outside without really registering his path. He turned a corner and stood in a narrow alleyway, leaning against the wall and letting out a breath. The past twenty four hours had been hell for Ethan. Facing the loss of a fellow agent and friend, then believing that they had lost him, then finding out that he was alive and now, as they watched him fighting for his life in hospital, the tension between him and Brandt was hitting breaking point. He knew how much Brandt cared about Benji. They were all close and Brandt considered the tech his best friend; when someone saves your life the way Benji had for Brandt, you have a tendency to care for them. But Ethan had known Benji far longer. He knew what his relationship with Gus had been like and was well aware of what was going on. He knew that despite the rocky moments and the constant asking for money, Gus did care about Benji; somewhere, deep down, he did feel something for his cousin. Brandt didn't know the story the way Ethan did.

He had been standing there for about ten minutes just breathing and trying to avoid thinking about what had happened when he heard something.

"Ethan?" He glanced up to see Jane standing a few feet away, a look of concern decorating her face. She took a few steps forward and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. "Are you ok?"

"No, Jane. I don't think I am." Hearing Ethan Hunt speak these words came as a shock to Jane. This was the man who was always alright. Nothing ever brought Ethan Hunt down. "I don't blame Brandt for feeling the way he does. He doesn't know about Benji and Gus the way…." He trailed off. He got the feeling this was all so superfluous; school children argued over who knew who longer. Not grown adults and particularly not grown adults in their profession. He knew it was something so silly when Benji had almost died, but it just got him worked up the wrong way when his loyalties were put on a pedestal and questioned the way they had been. He didn't feel threatened by Brandt in anyway, but he felt that the man was dealing with things he didn't fully understand; and he was dealing with them the wrong way.

"I'm sure Brandt doesn't mean it." Jane tried her best to comfort him as she slowly rubbed her hand up and down on his shoulder. "He's just worried about Benji. We all are. And I understand where you're coming from but Brandt's got a point. Gus shouldn't have died but he did cause all of this."

"I get that, I really do." Ethan countered. "It's just that… you know what, never mind." He shook his head and forced a soft smile. "Let's head back inside."

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

The group took turns staying with Benji, so that he never had to be alone. They knew that it would still take time for him to wake up, but when he did, they wanted someone to be there. Ethan and Luther headed to a nearby hotel to get a few hours' sleep while Jane and Brandt remained with their friend. They had a rota planned out; each agent had a six hour shift, an agent swapping every three hours, so that there were always two people there at a time. For the most part, their time spent at the hospital was completed in silence, no one really knowing what to say. What could they say? What could possibly be said at that moment other than discussing what had happened? None of the agents wanted to think of what Benji had been through so they merely sat as prisoners in their own thoughts.

On their second rotation together, Jane decided to speak up to Brandt.

"He means well, you know?"

Brandt raised his head from where it had been resting on his hands. "Hmm? Who?"

"Ethan." Jane spoke matter-of-factly. "I know it seems like he's defending Gus, but he knows more than we do. He has known Benji longer than any of us."

"I know that." Brandt's voice wasn't quite emotionless; more like the emotions were there but he was forcing them down. It reminded Jane a bit of their time in Dubai when he had told them about Ethan's wife. "I just don't see how he can show that man any kind of sympathy when he did this to Benji…" He pointed to their teammate and once he looked at Benji, he couldn't look away. The image of the broken man before him made his heart ache once more and he realised that it really wasn't worth it. Of course he would never be able to understand Ethan's view on Gus' death, but that was really insignificant now. Life was too short – as it had been proven to them that very night – and there were far more important things for them to be worrying about. Now was not the time to be fighting. The pair fell victim to silence once more and before they knew it, Jane was leaving. As she stepped out of the door, Brandt saw Ethan enter out of the corner of his eye. Once he was seating in the chair Jane had been in, ten minutes passed before either agent spoke.

"How's he doing?" Ethan asked, not taking his eyes off the younger agent as he lay so still.

"No real change, as yet." Brandt responded. "They came in earlier to do a check and said that there is some improvement, but nothing overly substantial."

"Well, any improvement is good news." Ethan's response was curt and Brandt felt himself shrink in his chair.

"Yeah. You're right." Brandt practically whispered his reply and he took a deep breath in. "Ethan, I'm sorry about earlier… I just…"

"I get it, Brandt." Ethan stared at Benji for a few moments more before turning his eyes on the analyst. "I know you care about Benji and that you hate to see what they did to him. But you need to understand that you don't know the full story about Benji and Gus. None of it matters now that he's dead, but please just remember that there's so much more to Benji than meets the eye. We're not the only one with secrets." Brandt nodded at these words and both men glanced back to the Brit again as silence took over once again.

Before they knew it, the silence had covered the three hour period and soon Luther was joining them. As he approached he door, Brandt turned to Ethan and gave him a small nod. When the leader returned the gesture, Brandt felt relieved that his attitude hadn't caused a rift; they didn't need that while Benji was in this condition.

Their hours slowly turned into days and before they knew it, it had been a week since they had found Benji in the forest. The reports from the doctor were slowly getting more and more positive and they found their hope renewed on one visit from their friend's doctor.

"I have some good news." He had a smile on his face and that alone made them feel at ease. "It seems that Benjamin is well on his way to recovery and within the next twenty four hours we are hoping to start to withdraw the barbiturates. After that, it shouldn't take him long to wake up." Their collective relief was expressed through them mirroring the doctor's smile.

"That's fantastic." Jane breathed, expressing all of their thoughts in one sentence.

"What I would now recommend is that the four of you go home and get some proper rest. I can guarantee Benjamin is still in safe hands here and you can come back tomorrow to see how things are." Now that they knew they were close to getting their friend back, the team were more willing to agree, thanking the doctor once more before exiting Benji's room.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o


	12. Chapter 12

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

When they returned to the hospital the following afternoon, they were greeted by a pleasant sight. The doctor approached them with an even bigger smile on his face than the previous day.

"Good to see you all looking rested. And I have good news. The barbiturates have been withdrawn and we're hoping that Benjamin will wake up sometime today."

They were the words that they had wanted to hear. The four anxious agents stepped after the doctor through the corridors of the hospital until they finally reached Benji's room. As the door opened, their friend was still lying motionless however the beeping from the machine showed that he was still in a good condition.

"You are welcome to stay with him until he wakes. We'll be in and out checking on him in the meantime. Let me know if you need anything." The doctor gave them a kind nod before leaving them with their friend. As the door shut, they felt the silence – which had been a far too frequent visitor over the past week – return once more. Each agent stared at Benji, as if feeling as though doing so would make him wake up faster. The only problem was, no one knew what would happen once their friend did wake. Obviously they would express their extreme relief that he was ok, but what then? Would he want to talk about his ordeal? Would he ask how they found him? If he did, what would happen when Gus' name was mentioned? How soon would they tell him of his cousin's death? How would he take the news? The questions that ran through their minds started to give Ethan a headache. The only thing he knew for sure that no matter what happened once Benji regained consciousness, they would all be with him every step of the way.

"How are we gonna tell him?" Brandt's voice broke the silence after what felt like forever.

"Tell him what?" Ethan knew he probably referred to Gus, however he found himself asking the question without really thinking about it.

"About his cousin." The analyst hadn't taken his eyes off Benji as he spoke, not really directing his queries to anyone in particular. No one answered the question; no one could. Despite all Gus had done, how does one break the news to a friend that his cousin was killed? Hopefully, they wouldn't have to tell him straight away; he would no doubt still be disorientated and tired when he woke. That may give them some time to figure out how to break the news to him.

A few more hours passed. Jane had fallen asleep on Brandt's shoulder as the analyst had his head resting against the door with his eyes closed. Luther sat staring out of the window but Ethan never took his eyes off Benji. He leant forward, resting his elbows on his knees so that he could prop up his head.

"Come on, Benji. Please come back." He mumbled. It seemed more to himself than his friend as he stared at Benji's face, despite half of it being covered by the oxygen mask he wore. Ethan found himself almost smiling.

_Benji finally got to wear a mask …_

He was sure there would be a joke in there somewhere… Eventually. But right now, joking was not fitting. He rubbed his hands over his face, taking in a deep breath as he tried to straighten out all the thoughts in his head. The Cobalt mission had been tough on them all, putting them through so much in just a short space of time; however this was different. This had been a similar time frame, yet when one of their own was in as much danger as Benji had been, it took its toll on them more. When they had been threatened with nuclear war, the physical and mental effects had trodden them down, yet this time, they were also hit emotionally and that was often the hardest one to bounce back from. They just had to do so soon; they needed to be able to help Benji through the aftermath of what he had been through.

A sudden yet soft noise in front of him made his head shoot up and he noticed that the sound had been Benji's breathing changing. At first, he felt his heart race, worried that there was a problem, however he realised that it was a good sign; his friend was waking up.

"Benji?" he spoke softly, noticing Luther glance over at them. "Benji, can you hear me?" He felt certain that something was happening, yet there was no visual confirmation that Benji was coming back. Acting without thinking, he grasped Benji's hand. "Benji, if you can hear me, squeeze my hand." It took a few seconds, yet there was a small amount of pressure from the tech and his face lit up with a hopeful smile. He looked across at Luther. "Get the doctor." As his friend stood up and raced to the door, Ethan looked back to Benji's face. "It's alright Benji, you're doing great."

"What's happening?" Brandt's groggy voice from behind him made him turn around. "Is Benji awake?"

"Almost." Ethan saw both Brandt and Jane stand up quickly and they were next to him in a heartbeat.

"Benji?" Jane spoke softly, reaching out to place a gentle hand on his shoulder. His eyelids moved slightly and the three agents held their breath.

"You're almost there, Benji." Brandt's smile was evident in his voice as they watched their friend's eyelids fight to open. After a few moments, they slowly fluttered and they were finally able to see his glazed over blue eyes. At that moment, the door opened again and Luther returned with the doctor.

"He's awake." Jane spun around and alerted the doctor, watching as he approached the bed and placed his hand on Benji's forehead. They noticed Benji's eyes flicking around at all of them as he tried to come to his senses.

"Benjamin? Can you hear me?" When Benji gave a small, weak nod, the doctor continued. "Ok, you're at the hospital. You went through quite a bit but your friends found you just in time. You're going to be fine. I'll just remove this bandage from your head, ok?" When Benji nodded again, the doctor went to work, swiftly removing the material. He then looked up at the four agents. "We will need to inform him of everything soon, but we'll save that until he's had time to take everything in. The dislocation in his jaw has been reset and he is fine to talk, however the bandage is just for extra support. We'll put it back on shortly, but he'll be ok for a little while." They all watched as Benji lifted his hand slowly, pulled off the mask and took in a few deep breaths. Once he had taken a few moments, moving his jaw a little, he glanced across at his teammates and had an unreadable expression on his face.

"What… what happened?" He felt so confused as he looked at each team member; even Luther was there. He had been certain that his team wouldn't have known that he was missing, let alone know what had happened to him. How had they found him? Another thing that confused him was the fact that he was actually alive. The last thing he remembered was slowly dying in the middle of nowhere; now he was lying in a hospital bed, very alive.

"It's ok, Benji. There's plenty of time for that." Ethan offered, not wanting him to have to relive everything at that moment. "Right now, the important thing is, you're ok." He saw Benji shaking his head slightly.

"No… no…" he breathed. "Something has happened. Something bad… What was it?" Benji's eyes looked so lost as they flicked between the five other people in the room. His friends all looked at the doctor.

"Did you discuss anything while he was unconscious?" the older man asked them. "As I mentioned last week, people in comas can often register some things you say. Maybe you mentioned something."

They were suddenly hit by a freight train of realisation.

They had discussed Gus' death during that time. Benji must have heard some of it; not all, but just enough to get the feeling that something was wrong. Ethan stood up and motioned for the doctor to step aside with him.

"Benji's cousin was killed by the same people who did this to him." He spoke quietly, so that Benji couldn't hear him. "He doesn't know, but we had mentioned it while he was unconscious. I really don't think now is the right time to tell him…"

"I see…"

"Ethan…" Benji's weak voice drifted across and the agent shared a nervous glance with the doctor before approaching the bed again.

"It's ok, Benji. No need to worry. Just get some rest ok? We'll still be here when you wake up." Ethan noticed the younger man try to argue, yet the lingering sleep combined with Jane's soothing hand caressing his hair coaxed him back into slumber. Ethan let out a small sigh of relief once Benji's eyes had closed and looked at his fellow agents.

"How long are you going to keep it from him?" Luther asked as the doctor wrapped the bandage back around Benji's head. "The longer you hide it, the worse it'll be."

"I know. I don't want to lie to him, but he's too fragile right now. He doesn't need that kind of news in his condition. I will tell him. Just not yet."

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o


	13. Chapter 13

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

The next time Benji woke, there was only one other person in the room with him. He reached up and began to tug at the bandage around his head, relieved when Ethan stood up to help. Once it was off, the tech pulled off the oxygen mask and let out a long breath.

"Hey, how you doing?" Ethan asked softly, settling back into his chair.

"I've been better…" Benji's voice was still weak, yet just hearing it again felt good. "I thought I was dead…"

"Yeah, well so did we." Ethan's voice was kind yet displayed the sadness as he relived the moment when he saw Benji's broken and bloodied body in the forest. "But you're not dead and that's what matters."

Benji nodded. "How did you guys find me? Gus would probably have taken off by the time he got the first phone call." At the sound of Gus' name, Ethan felt himself involuntarily tense up; he knew that it was coming.

"Fortunately I managed to find him before he went anywhere." Ethan's heart was beating a fraction faster as he spoke. He knew that any second now, Benji would ask the question he did not wish to answer.

"Right. I'm guessing he wasn't too pleased about having to stick around." Benji blinked a few times, trying to imagine the look on Gus' face when he was told he wasn't going anywhere. "Where is he now? Off on some island glad to be away from McTavish's wrath?" Benji gave a small scoff at the thought, however when he saw Ethan's expression, he knew something was wrong. "Ethan? What is it?"

"Benji… I'm afraid I have some bad news." The heartfelt glance he received from the tech made him wonder if he knew what he was going to say. "When we traced the video feed that McTavish had sent, we went to find him. As we entered the warehouse, one of his men shot your cousin." Benji took in a deep breath.

"He didn't make it, did he?"

"Benji, I'm really sorry." Ethan watched as the younger man turned his head so that he was staring at the ceiling. After a few seconds of silence, the leader stood up and made his way to the door. "I'll give you some time alone. I'll be just outside if you need me." He turned and left his friend alone, understanding that it was a lot to take in.

Once the door was shut, Benji let out a breath. Gus was dead. His big cousin. Gone. He was at a loss for how to feel. The man was dodgy and didn't make good choices; he even put Benji through all of this because he couldn't be responsible for his own actions. But at the end of the day, the pair were still cousins. They both cared for each other and that counted for something. Gus may have had this coming for a long time, but that didn't mean he deserved it.

Benji was just sorry that their last encounter ended on such bad terms.

He closed his eyes and felt a single tear trace his cheek as he tried to let the news sink in.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

**Two months later.**

"I hear you caused my friends some grief. I suppose it wouldn't be you if you didn't. You always were one to cause trouble for others. I don't know if you'd remember this, but I recall one time when we were kids, I think I was six so you would have been about ten. Mum and Dad brought me over here for a holiday and we stayed with you guys. We were playing in the park and you wanted the swing that I was on, so you pushed me." Pausing for a minute, Benji took in a deep breath at the memory. "I don't think you really meant to hurt me, but I fell and hit my head on the concrete. When I was in hospital, you tried to blame the whole thing on me. No matter how much Uncle Derek told you to be honest, you still told them that I had been messing around on the swings and didn't take care of myself. But when you came to see me the next day, you brought me your favourite action figure; it was a Han Solo one." He smiled at the image of his cousin walking into the hospital room, shame and concern on his face as he handed over the doll.

_"I'm sorry Benji. I didn't mean it. I hope you're ok."_

"You see, regardless of what you did wrong, you still wanted to look out for me. What happened might have been your fault, but I don't hate you for it. Just like I don't hate you for what happened with McTavish."

"Benji?" The tech looked up and saw Ethan standing a few meters away across the grass. The older man approached him and looked down at the gravestone in front of them. "You ok?"

"Yeah." Benji nodded and glanced back to the marble headstone.

_Gus Dickinson_

_January 31st 1971 – January 4th 2012_

_Beloved son and cousin_

"I'm always ok." Benji forced a smile and Ethan put an arm around his shoulders as they made their way across the graveyard back to their cars.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o


End file.
